Her life is a cabaret, old chum

Working as a paralegal in Columbus, Julie Klein, BSJ '85, chased an untapped dream when she entered the world of entertainment.

By Val Hunt

Julie Klein always loved theater, but she never thought she could make a living at it.

Klein, BSJ '85, was working as a paralegal at a Columbus housing and title company in 1992 when she began spending some spare time singing with the eclectic, edgy Shadowbox Cabaret. Within about five months, however, Shadowbox executives invited her to come on board as general manager of the company, which its owners describe as a cross between a nightclub, a comedy club and a theater.

"So I had a big decision to make: stay at a nice comfy job and drive my nice car and stay in my nice apartment, or go for my dream," Klein says. "I went for it."

Klein is now a part owner and director of marketing for the theater company, which has more than 100 members entertaining audiences in Columbus and Newport, Ky. She also acts, directs, sings, writes scripts and plays keyboard.

"On one given evening I will do a rock 'n' roll song, get on stage and do a comedy act and perhaps do a dramatic piece. It's that variety that keeps me so interested," she says. "Plus there's nothing better than live theater. You never know what's going to happen."

What she and her co-workers hope happens next is that they get some attention from a large cable outfit like Comedy Central. Already Shadowbox has a regional cable television show, "Shadowbox Wired," that's in its second season of reruns in Cincinnati and Columbus; a new season is in the works.

The long hours and sacrifice have paid off for Klein: Between memorizing lines, planning advertising campaigns, rehearsing and writing scripts, Klein has won two Columbus Best Supporting Actress awards and honorable mention as Best Actress in Columbus.

"I feel so lucky to be doing what I dreamed about doing when I was a little girl," she says, adding that patrons often approach her with the question: "What are you doing here? You should be in New York doing this."

"It's amusing to me because I never understood that stigma. Why do I have to go there to do this?" says the Findlay, Ohio, native. "I'm doing it here."

To learn more about Shadowbox Cabaret, visit the company Web site at www.shadowboxcabaret.com.

Val Hunt, BSJ '05, is a former student writer for University Communications and Marketing.